Sydney Eat Street: What to eat in Bourke St, Surry Hills
INNER-CITY foodie haven Surry Hills has a smorgasbord of dining options but Bourke St may well be the creme de la creme, Jenifer Jagielski discovers.
INNER-CITY foodie haven Surry Hills has a smorgasbord of dining options but Bourke St may well be the crème de la crème.
Take a tour of the area’s best eateries right here with The Sunday Telegraph’s Eat Street. Are you hungry for more inspiration? Follow us on Instagram.
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DON’T TELL AUNTY
With its blue velvet banquette seating, stacks of copper pots and Bollywood movies screened on flamingo-pink brick walls chef and co-owner Jessi Singh leaves little doubt that his latest venture will be serving up “unauthentic” Indian food.
“There’s no such thing as ‘authentic’ Indian food. It’s just what was served at home,” he says, adding that whatever was cooked was guided by whichever aunt held sway in the kitchen at that time.
Memories of India and those family meals accompanied Jessi on a culinary journey that would see him open restaurants in San Francisco, New York, Melbourne and even country Victoria before landing in Sydney.
Here, along with chef and co-owner Amar Singh, they’ve created a menu that reflects those travels such as with the Papadi Chaat, a Southern California spin on an Indian street food snack of plain flour chips, topped with chickpeas, potatoes, yoghurt sauce, tamarind chutney, pomegranate seeds and mint and coriander “salsa” — otherwise known as nachos of the Motherland, or the Aussie-influenced beet and ginger sauce at the base of green chilli and cardamom spiced yoghurt kebabs (croquettes).
While the vibe is kitsch, Jessi keeps things natural in the kitchen, eliminating ghee and oils, and in the case of their butter chicken dish, substitutes in an ample amount of dried fenugreek leaves to give it a buttery flavour.
To complement it all, there’s an impressive beverage list including creative cocktails and even a vegan mango lassi made with coconut milk. For one of the best deals in town, stop in for their $10 buffet lunch. Jessi promises to keep it strictly unauthentic.
— 414 Bourke St
ARTHUR
Table service from the chef may get some raised eyebrows in restaurants the world over — but not at Arthur. It’s all part of the plan.
At this intimate 35-seat restaurant, working with a set menu and twice-nightly seating gives respected chef Tristan Rosier (Farmhouse, Dead Ringer) a chance to not only bring out the food but talk to diners about what they’re eating.
It’s a vision that he and his partner Rebecca Fanning brought over from their time at Farmhouse where the kitchen was indeed the heart of the home rather than shuttered away.
While it’s not quite a setting to slip off your shoes, toss your bag in the corner and start peeling carrots, it’s Tristan, Bec and their staff’s transition between roles as chefs, server, and gracious hosts, smoothly rolling out the set menu’s 12-dishes, starting with housemade sourdough bread and cultured butter, through the king prawns, to the chocolate delice dessert, with nary a pause in conversation that makes your experience feel like a friend’s dinner party.
The highlight here of course is the food which reflects Tristan’s celebration of simplicity and seasonal produce, such as with the local bush tomatoes he uses to cut the richness of the kangaroo tartare. Tristan tells how one particular meal at Vivant in Paris helped to solidify his appreciation for this approach.
“It was minimal but so well seasoned and balanced. It blew my mind. This is what I want to do,” he says.
He brought Bec there later and marvelling as the young chef squeezed only lemon over the sliced white asparagus, sold her on the dream.
Coincidentally, there just happened to be a white asparagus, green almond and herb dish on Arthur’s opening night menu. Hmmmm. ($70 set-menu with sitting on Wed-Fri, 6pm & 8.30pm, Saturday 12.30pm, 6pm & 8.30pm and Sunday 12.30pm & 6pm)
— 544 Bourke St
LOLUK BISTRO
… And the winner is Sydney. Brothers Luc and Loïc La Joye came to the Harbour City as tourists but fell in love with the place and after a bit of global gallivanting eventually returned, opening their namesake restaurant, LoLuk Bistro.
Barely a block off Oxford St, the brothers have transformed the terrace location into a petite inner-city Provençal oasis with cafe seating in front, two separate dining sections and a third lovingly landscaped courtyard out back.
The menu has the obligatory though no less scrumptious terrines and cheese soufflés but as Luc and LoÏc hail from the south of France near Italy, it may surprise some to see pasta on the menu, including their grandmother’s recipe for pan-fried duck breast with gnocchi. Actually, most all of the menu is courtesy of their grandmother, as is the Provence lavender she sends them for the aromatic crème brulee.
Luc points out a further nod to their homeland as on each of the white linen-covered tables you’ll find a bottle of olive oil from their own olive grove in Provence. Tres chic.
— 2/411 Bourke St
BOURKE STREET BAKERY
On any given day, the queue outside the door makes Bourke Street Bakery one of Sydney’s worst kept secrets. And while owners David McGuiness and Paul Allam have gone on to expand production and open 10 other locations with another to open soon in New York, this small corner shop with the big shop window remains the flagship.
There are many paths to the finish line but to think much of it started when as a caterer, David was always disappointed in the breads being served.
With that he simply decided he “wanted to learn to make good bread” so found work in a bakery which is also where the pair met.
They eventually found their corner shop, sourced an old oven in 2004 and sold out of sourdough bread on their first day. Other loaves, pastries and pies have been added to the list, and new outlets have opened to accommodate production, but at heart of it Bourke Street Bakery remains a community bakery.
Now their main production (perfectly climate controlled for consistency) is done in Banksmeadow, but it too has a cafe and like the others, strives to make each one feel like the local bakery that just happened to make the best sourdough bread, ginger brulee and pork and fennel sausages.
— 633 Bourke St
MAYBE FRANK
It’s a tough call as to who gets top billing at this popular Surry Hills establishment. On the one hand, there are the traditional thin-crust wood-fired pizzas which pizzaiolo (pizza chef) Francesco Repole puts forward as the contender with both classic tomato sauce and white mozzarella cheese base variations.
But on the other hand, there’s a cocktail list developed by Andrea Gualdi — Australian Bartender Of The Year 2017 (Diageo World Class Competition) — and his team, which features such gems as his award-winning tequila and watermelon cocktail, Aguila Y Sandia.
Delicious in its own right, the concoction garnered high praise for its sustainability by using all parts of the watermelon — caster sugar and the watermelon skin to make up the rim; the juice gets frozen into ice blocks, and the pulp is used to make clarified watermelon soda water.
It’s a tough call between the two and one that definitely needs further examination like maybe on Tuesday nights with all-you-can-eat pizza for $20 with the purchase of drink which, may or may not be one of those refreshing watermelon thingies. Who knows?
— 417-421 Bourke St
MUST TRY
PIZZA, PIZZINO AND GELATO
Every little neighbourhood needs a Panchina — a humble park bench. Fortunately, for the lucky locals off Bourke St, theirs comes along with a lovely little Italian eatery that serves up delicious wood-fire pizzas and artisan gelato as sweet as the owners themselves.
Grab a table, or on a pleasant day, a panchina in the small play area mere steps away and order up co-owner, Luca Mochi’s famous tomato, mozzarella and basil Margherita pizza or for easy handling his mozzarella, Mortadella and pistachio pesto Pizzino, a cross between a pizza and a panino, saving room of course for a scoop … or three of gelato.
— La Panchina; Shop 3, 496 Bourke St
LAMB RIBS & RUM COCKTAIL
The gents behind Brix Distillers are set to relieve rum of its bum wrap and give it a place to “grow up”.
Using Australian molasses sourced from Northern NSW and Queensland’s cane-fields the mix is fermented, distilled, matured and bottled on site eventually sitting alongside the 150 other rums on hand.
The cocktails are stellar on their own but to truly appreciate the spirit’s balance, mixologist and fellow rum-drinker Doug Laming can help you pair your tipple with a bite from the kitchen.
Try the tender Mirrol Creek lamb ribs with a glaze of Brix Gold, cumin, sumac and Ancho chilli with the Raising the Dead cocktail made with Brix White, lemon, Lillet Blanc and Cointreau.
— Brix Distillers; 350 Bourke St
BOTTOMLESS BRUNCH
Brunch doesn’t have to be basic. This weekend, forego the avo and raise a glass to bottomless mimosas and dishes that can legitimately transition past midday such as cured ocean trout with capers and dill, pan-fried Spanish mackerel or the dessert-worthy, French Toast with berry compote and orange yoghurt. (Saturday and Sunday from 11am, 2hr bottomless mimosas, $30pp)
— Dead Ringer; 413 Bourke St
CURRY WITH A HEART
Tuesdays tend to be nondescript on the home dining scene so why not go for an entirely new experience and head to Sydney’s first Profit for Purpose restaurant, Folonomo (For Love Not Money) where 100 per cent of profits go back to local charities.
The dinner menu is curated by head chef Vinicius Oliveirato reflect Australia’s diverse cultures with dishes such as Pumpkin Coconut Curry and Freshly baked charcoal tahini bread. Plus, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are BYO wine nights. Win all around.
— Folonomo; 370 Bourke St
MATCHA MADNESS
Going green is easy when it’s left to the capable and creative hands of Chef Kentaro Takayama (Cafe Oratnek, bills of Darlinghurst) whose Japanese-fusion dishes, particularly those featuring the jade hue of matcha, find that delicate balance of flavour and aesthetics.
The first and most crucial point, of course, is to start with quality matcha, which not only tastes better but also has more antioxidants.
Try Organic Matcha Soba Noodle salad with spring beans, peas, water chestnuts, shallot, shiso, mint and wasabi dressing along with a side of matcha latte art.
— Cafe Kentaro, 616 Bourke St
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